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She was first prompted to reveal the scars of her operation after being angered by a new “awareness” stunt on social media.

Leeanne, from Drumnadrochit, by Loch Ness, said: “I’ll never forget the post I saw on Facebook that made my blood boil. Thousands of women across the world were taking part in a new social media craze to supposedly raise awareness of breast cancer.

“I’d seen previous ones where women had done everything from posting pink love hearts on their timeline to showing off brightly coloured bras but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Women were being asked to post a picture holding a bottle or can of Coke in their cleavage.

Brave Leeanne posted pic of mastectomy scars on Facebook

“I just thought, ‘No way is that about raising awareness of breast cancer.’ If you want to get your boobs out, then get your boobs out, who cares? But don’t pretend it’s to raise awareness of breast cancer.

“Breast cancer isn’t sexy. It’s not pink and fluffy. And it’s certainly not a game.

“It’s a disease that can kill – and sadly I now know it is a disease that is going to kill me.

“I was first diagnosed four years ago. My sons’ father told me his mum had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“When I heard the news, I examined my own breasts and felt a lump in my left one.

“I was shattered when tests revealed I had breast cancer, which I later discovered was down to me having one of the BRCA genes.

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“A row broke out about whether my photo was nudity or not. I got one message – and photo – sent by a transgender man, showing me his mastectomy scars.

“He stuck up for me by saying his Facebook inbox was full of similar pictures of people who had their breasts removed as part of their sex change operations and no one was asking for those pictures to be removed from social media.

“But some of the negative messages I got were from people whose lives had been touched by cancer.

“One woman told me she had lost her mother to breast cancer and I was taking her mother’s name in vain.

“Another woman asked me to get rid of the picture as she was a ‘proper cancer survivor’. What made her more of a ‘proper cancer survivor’ than me? I was upset. For every 500 good comments I maybe only got one bad, but it was the hate I focused on.

Leeanne is overwhelmed by support from kind-hearted strangers (Image: Peter Jolly/Northpix)

“But then I got a message from someone that made me know for sure that posting my photo had been the right thing to do.

“I found out a lady had been so shocked by my photo that she checked her breasts and found a lump. She got in touch to tell me I had saved her life.

“When I posted the picture, it was to make people really think and to get women – and men – to check their breasts for any sign of the disease.

“This woman had seen my photo and done exactly that. We keep in touch. She finished her chemo six months ago and is doing well. I wish I could say the same about me. Just before Christmas, I was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer.

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“I’m about to start more treatment to stop the disease spreading but I’ve been told it can’t be cured. I’m going to lose my life to this awful disease.

“I only ever get upset about what’s happening when I think of my children. Rhys is only six and doesn’t really understand.

“His brother Jake is 12, and he’s my little sidekick, always there. I know he is finding it hard.

“Bizarrely social media is helping us. A friend of mine set up a crowdfunding page without me knowing, asking for donations so that I can make special memories with my boys that they can treasure forever.

“When I first found out I was horrified but now I’ve just been left humbled by everyone’s support.

“I’ve had so many donations from people I don’t know - one stranger even donating £300.

“I’ve seen the best and worst of social media. But at the end of the day, it helped me save a life.”